Screamin’ Whisper “Filth”

Screamin’ Whisper are a young band out of Edinburgh and this is their debut album. Their sound offers refences to jangly pop and to Brit Pop. Both those facts probably had us thinking of Teenage Fanclub.

Indeed, like that band, there’s a real understated feel to tracks like “Angels Don’t Watch Broken Homes”, “Filth” and “These Days (She Says)”. The vocals have a breathless quality and the melodies just kind of sneak up on you. Songs like “Blue Arsed Fly” and “What’s A Boy To Do” they kind of remind us of some of the solo work by the great, but sadly under promoted, Johnny Monaco. There’s a cool, power pop feel but instead of the big FM radio sound you might normally get, it has a more laid back, acoustic feel.
Indeed, there is more of a jangly pop sound to tracks like “Mother’s Arms” and “Something Wonderful”. They have an acoustic pop feel to them and a softer sound. In contrast, “Preacher” suggests there might actually be at least a little bit of punk spirit in the Screamin’ Whispers… something we’d actually like to see more of.

Thinking about it, the band’s name is indeed very apt. If there was a genre called lo-fi, power pop then this album would be a good example of that. There’s some good pop/rock numbers on here but they could do with being delivered with a bit more punch, for our taste at least. All the songs float along in a pleasant manner but without quite grabbing us. It’s a pleasant and enchanting record that will be loved by people of perhaps a more gentle disposition than us.